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The Portland Tribune Wheeler Pauses Hales Campaign to Foreclose on 'Zombie' Homes By Jim Redden January 4, 2018 Mayor says cost, complexity force other solutions but might consider more reforms to program pushed by predecessor. Portland used the threat of foreclosure to force scofflaw landlords to take responsibility for 10 derelict properties over the past 18 months. But the City Council did not approve any others for foreclosure in all of 2017, despite pledging to routinely review potential new ones. The reversal happened after former Mayor Charlie Hales — who pushed the council to crack down harder on "zombie" homes — left office. His successor, Mayor Ted Wheeler, doesn't consider foreclosures a high priority. "The obstacles for government to take away someone's property are formidable," says Wheeler, who took office last January. "It's a very expensive, multiyear process. I'm not sure that's the best use of our resources." The change essentially leaves the enforcement system where it was before the council approved Hales' June 2016 reforms aimed at cracking down on zombie homes, which often sit empty and are a blight on neighborhoods. The Bureau of Development Services, which inspects and cites substandard properties for code violations, maintains a list of hundreds of the worst properties in the city. When BDS cannot convince landlords to pay their fines and fix them up, it can refer them to the City Auditor's Office, which tries again. When the auditor runs out of options, properties can be referred to the council to be approved for foreclosure. If the council agrees, the property is sent to the city treasurer, who schedules a foreclosure auction. That is how 10 properties were approved for foreclosure since June 2016. Landlords for eight of them paid off the liens before the auctions were set. The ninth was paid off just before the auction. The 10th was paid off after it failed to sell at the first auction but before the second auction was held. The auditor's office did not refer any additional properties to the council in 2017, despite receiving a list of eight new ones from BDS in February and another eight in October. Instead, the auditor's office has continued working the cases itself — with mixed results. As of last July, at least 31 unresolved cases were pending in the office. Since then, only eight have either been resolved or on their way to being resolved. None of the eight it received in October are among them. It's not as though the city doesn't have enough zombie homes to pursue. Depending on who you ask, there are either several hundred or several thousand severely neglected or abandoned homes in Portland. The BDS list totals in the hundreds. The Portland Police Bureau has a list of thousands of troubled properties in East Portland alone. All of the 16 homes BDS referred to the auditor's office this year are in Southeast and Northeast Portland. Not all zombie homes are the same. Some are legally occupied, even if they are in disrepair. Others are illegal to live in because of severe code violations, but still attract homeless people and criminals as squatters. Some are owned by people who are ignoring the fines imposed on them. Others have been repossessed by banks that also are ignoring the fines. And some have been abandoned by their owners, but not yet taken over by their mortgage holders. Because of the complications, city officials must personally contact the legal owners of all such properties to figure out the circumstances. Some owners can be persuaded to pay up, even if they have to sell the properties. Others win hardship reprieves. Still other owners refuse and drag the process out to the last minute. The number of properties submitted to the council had been dropping even before Hales left office. The council approved five homes for foreclosure on June 15, 2016, and another five two weeks later. The number dropped to four the following Sept. 28. And only one was submitted for approval on Dec. 22, 2016, the last time the council was presented with a new list. And as Wheeler correctly notes, just because the landlords paid off the liens doesn't mean the homes were torn down, fixed up or replaced with a new home. It just means the inspection and penalty process can start all over. Site visits by The Portland Tribune show that most of the properties approved for foreclosure have, in fact, been fixed up or replaced with new homes, however. And the city has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and fees from the landlords. Although Wheeler says changes may be proposed to hasten the process, he still asks whether city costs can't be better spent by increasing security on the worst offenders. To read a previous story, go to tinyurl.com/y9tgmatc Sources Say: Officials Might Count Folks 'Doubled Up' By Jim Redden January 4, 2018 Plus, more on Loretta Smith's paperwork problem and Fish promises Uber crackdown. Portland and Multnomah County leaders have not yet decided whether to do another homeless count this year — or, if so, how extensive it might be. Up until now, social service agencies in the county have only conducted their federally required Point-in-Time survey every other year. The most recent one, conducted last February, found the number of homeless people in the county had increased 10 percent since 2015. When he ran for mayor, Ted Wheeler suggested the count should be conducted every year. But no such decision has yet been made. Instead, officials with the city-county Joint Office of Homeless Services are discussing whether a smaller, more-focused count could be conducted this year, such as trying to figure out how many people are "doubled up" in homes belonging to other people. Although those people are not officially considered homeless, they are at high risk of losing their housing. Smith's paperwork problem Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson fined Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith for not doing something that a lot of other candidates don't do, either. Although Smith had not formally filed to run in another election, Richardson ruled she was, in fact, a candidate for the Portland City Council in the May 2018 primary and penalized her for not updating her committee filing. Political junkies who review state campaign reports are well aware that many incumbents don't immediately update their committee filings when they run for re-election or another office. One common lapse is not updating which election the candidate is running in. For example, Mike Reese was elected Multnomah County sheriff in the November 2016 general election. He filed for re-election on Sept. 27. But, as of last Friday, his committee filing still said he was running in the 2016 general election, not the May 2018 primary. Fish promises Uber crackdown Commissioner Nick Fish promised the City Council will consider cracking down on Uber, in his year-end report to Portland residents. "Uber is a notoriously bad actor. They operated illegally, then tried to make an end run around Portland's regulations. They hid a massive data breach for over a year. They attempted to strip workers of important rights. And it took a subpoena to get them to disclose how they evaded Portland regulators with 'Greyball.' Next year, we will consider tougher regulations, including new ways to keep the public safe," Fish wrote in a section titled Protecting Workers and Consumers. Fish, who repeatedly has criticized out-of-state "sharing economy" businesses, also promised that all landlords who advertise short-term rentals on such websites as Airbnb and HomeAway will be required to register with the city, which will inspect their properties for safety and collect lodging taxes. Multnomah Commissioner Loretta Smith files for Portland City Council By Nick Budnick January 3, 2018 Formal filing comes on the first day it permissibly could without her resigning her current job. Multnomah Commissioner Loretta Smith has formally filed for Portland City Council, officially jumping into the crowded race for the seat of outgoing city Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Smith's submitted her filing on Tuesday morning and it is expected to be posted on the city website Thursday. Smith will face off with three other formal candidates: ormer lawmaker Jo Ann Hardesty, neighborhood activist Felicia Williams, and mayoral aide Andrea Valderrama. Smith is the most seasoned of the bunch in terms of holding office. Since her election to the board in 2010, the former staffer to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has aggressively pushed for funding for summer jobs for disadvantaged young people, often characterizing herself as "giving voice to the voiceless." The formal filing comes as Smith has come under scrutiny over her decision to declare her intent to run in September and over her subsequent campaign activities, notwithstanding a provision in the county charter that critics say means board members can't run until their final year of office without resigning. Smith says she followed the county's advice. For more details, read a more detailed article here. In an announcement on her Facebook page, she said her campaign kickoff will happen on Jan. 13. Here is her statement: "I have decided run for City Council because the most vulnerable need a voice in our community. "I am running to help those who are being left out of the prosperity and left behind with rising rents and expenses. "We're losing focus on making this a place where everyone can live, work, and play. "Through my career, I've haven't been afraid of a tough fight for what is right.

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